When They Came
by InternetGirl123
Summary: This is a humanized story about when the lemurs arrive in New York. The characters, save for Mort, are in second grade. There are no pairings, because they are too young and because Marlene is not even here! Hopefully this is not a waste of your time. UPDATED; CHAPTER 7 ON 2/22/2014
1. Chapter 1

**I'm a little reluctant to post this story, but I was asked to, so here it is. I apologize in advance if anyone is out of character. And in case you didn't read the summary, this is a humanized story. **

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter One: December 29**

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><p>One chilly morning in late December, Alice got up from behind her desk with a washrag and a bottle of Lysol and headed to the wall covered in mailboxes. She used her master key to open the one that read 7B and began spraying the liquid from the bottle into the mailbox.<p>

Up on the staircase, the head of young boy peered over the railing on the landing. The bespectacled second grader pulled a toy walkie talkie from his pocket and pressed the button.

"Skipper, Alice is cleaning mailboxes! She only does that when someone is moving in!"

"Which mailbox? Please tell me not one from our floor." The anxious voice of another young boy came through the speaker. "You know how I feel about new neighbors, Kowalski."

The boy deemed Kowalski could not see the labels on the metal doors of the boxes from where he was positioned. He quickly counted up from the bottom. "Sorry, Skipper, this mailbox belongs to our floor. It appears to be 7B- wait! Alice just opened another one! 7D!"

"7D?" Skipper exclaimed. 7D was almost directly across the hall from him. "How many neighbors are we getting?"

"I think she's done- wait, never mind. She just opened 7F."

Skipper's eyes, though Kowalski could not see them, had started twitching. Skipper did not like new neighbors. They were almost always either weird, crazy, creepy, or evil. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Sorry, Skipper." Kowalski looked up just in time to see Alice glaring at him. He casually got up and walked down the stairs, and went to his mailbox, as if he had planned to do that all along. Which he had, until he noticed the suspicious activity. Kowalski quickly unlocked the box, grabbed the mail inside and closed the door before casually walking back up the stairs. When he reached the landing, and when he was sure Alice wasn't looking, he dashed up the remaining six flights of stairs.

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><p>Meanwhile, another young boy was walking solemnly through what people might mistake as woods, but was really jungle. His hands stuck in the pockets of his jacket, he sighed for what might be the eighth time today. He didn't want to leave his home. It was a wonderful place. Almost carefree. He kept trying to believe that he wasn't moving to a whole different country in just a few days, but he was unable to fool himself.<p>

"Julien!"

The boy, Julien, heard his father calling for him. He had a very good reason to. It was way past his bedtime. Julien dug his hands deeper into his pockets as he turned around and headed home. Madagascar sometimes got chilly at night.

Julien soon found himself back in the clearing that served as a little yard for the house he lived in. His father stood in front of the fire pit. And he didn't look very happy.

"Where the in the hecks were you?" he asked.

"Taking a walk?"

"At 10:30 at night?"

"The sleepiness was not coming to my eyes."

Julien's father sighed. He motioned for his son to sit down next to him on the log.

"Julien, I know you don't want to move, but think about it. New York City. The city that never sleeps."

Truthfully, Julien was pleased with this fact, but he didn't say anything.

"I'm not going to try and tell you it will be easy, because it won't, but it'll all work out, okay?"

"Okay."

Julien accepted the hug from his father and allowed himself to be led back into the house.

"Did you find him?"

"Yes, Josh, now go to bed."

"I am in bed."

"Go to sleep."

"You're not my father."

"Don't make me go get your father." This shut up the rather rebellious 16-year-old who was Josh Lemkus.

Julien took his jacket off and threw it over the chest next to the bed. His father leaned down to hug him good night. "Think you can fall asleep now?"

"Nope."

_"Julien."_

"Did I say nope? I meant yes."

"Alright then. Good night, Julien.

"Good night, Father." His father left the room.

"You heard the man, go to sleep." Josh said.

"You are not the being the boss of me." This was all Julien said. He was too tired to fight back.

Julien got under the blanket of the bed he shared with his best friend, Maurice. He stared at Josh. He was the only one out of five kids in the house who got his own bed. But Julien really didn't care. All in all, it gave him an excuse to talk to Maurice all night. But not tonight. Maurice was asleep. Which was reasonable, given the time.

Julien closed his eyes and tried to think of happy things. Like kicking Josh's little brother, Mort. That was fun. It was annoying when the big eyed, high voiced 4-year-old kept coming back no matter how much he screamed, but kicking him down made up for it. Until Mort's mother caught them and he got in trouble for "picking on an innocent child".

Julien thought about this until he flickered into sleep.

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><p><strong>Josh has been mentioned a couple of times in my other stories. He will be in here a lot at the beginning, and will appear pretty frequently throughout the story. Also, if anyone has a better title for this, I am completly open to suggestions. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed th first chapter, and please review! :)<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two! Thanks to the reviewers, Karenkook, EppopinkfangirlXDXDXD(I likey; don't know if I'll change the title though), and Kukipye (yes, Julien and Josh are different families.)! So on we go. **

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Two: December 30**

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><p>Skipper was dragging his best friend, Private, down the stairs.<p>

"Skipper, why do you need to know about the new neighbors?" he asked.

"Because last time we got new neighbors, it didn't end well. Remember?" The last people who moved into the building turned out to be criminals in hiding.

"Well, what's Alice going to tell us? She doesn't exactly like us." Private said.

"Alice isn't going to tell us anything." Skipper stopped dragging Private when they reached the landing after the first staircase. The perfect place for spying on lobby-goers. Skipper took out a pair of toy binoculars and focused on Alice's desk.

"She's gotta leave sometime." he muttered. Private looked on.

Eventually Alice stopped looking over her paperwork and got up to go to the back room. Skipper and Private stepped down the stairs and, as quietly as they could, snuck behind Alice's desk to look at the papers. Skipper climbed up onto Alice's chair.

"All it says on here are which apartments were rented out. 7B, 7D, and 7F." Skipper said.

"I guess 3 families must all be moving together." Private said, always the one to be the voice of reason.

"Or a great big group of spies."

Private sighed. Skipper was far too paranoid.

"Hold on, it has some names." Skipper said, looking at the papers underneath. On the piece of paper for 7B was the name Eric Lemkus. On the paper for 7D was the name Julien Ringers. And the paper for 7F read Lauren Ayein.

"Lemkus, Ringers, Ayein. Remember that, Private." Skipper said.

"Hey!" Both boys turned around to find a very angry looking Alice. "What do you two think you're doing back here?" She shooed them out from behind her desk. "You better not have messed with these papers."

"When are these people moving in?" Private asked, before Skipper slapped him.

"You don't just ask her!" Skipper harshly whispered.

"January 2nd, now both of you get out of my lobby before I call your mothers."

Neither boy really wanted to have their mother called, so they reluctantly walked to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. The elevator came and they stepped inside.

"January 2nd is only four days away." Skipper said as soon as the elevator doors closed. "We need more information.

Private sighed again. This was going to be a long four days.

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><p>Julien quietly sat on one of the logs surrounding the fire. He watched as Josh, who sat on the other side of the fire, whispered into his girlfriend's ear. Lisa was always here. Julien liked her, but it utterly disgusted him when she and Josh started kissing. Luckily, they weren't doing that right now.<p>

Maurice was sitting next to him, and was starting to nod off. He had been falling asleep really early lately; Julien didn't know why. Maurice's little sister, Kylie, and Mort, Josh's little brother, were fast asleep in their mothers' laps. Julien wasn't close to falling asleep. Not with the fact that it would be the last night in his own bed.

He looked to his right and gazed at the house he had lived in all his life. The house he would be leaving tomorrow.

It wasn't that big a house. It had three rooms, two of them small and one of them large. The front room, the one you were in when you came in the front door, was the bedroom Julien, Maurice, and Josh shared. The next room was sort of a hallway. It didn't have much of a purpose. The last room, in the back of the house, was the large room. All the adults, plus Mort and Kylie, slept in there.

The sky seemed particularly beautiful tonight. The stars- he loved to just gaze at them. He was told that when they got to New York, he wouldn't be able to see them very well, because of all the muggy air and the bright lights blocking out the sky. He wouldn't believe that until he saw it.

It amazed Julien how he had explored so much of the jungle, yet there was so much more of it that he hadn't. It was hard to believe that New York was all buildings, and barely any trees. He was looking forward to this "Central Park" the adults kept going on about. It was supposed to be beautiful, but Julien didn't think anything could be more gorgeous than what was around him right now.

Julien thought back to the day before, when he had insisted that they mark the house as theirs' so no one could take it.

_"Hey Dad, what if after we leave, someone finds our empty house and moves in?" Julien asked his father, two days away from the move._

_"What use would we have for the house after we move to New York?"_

_"We'll want to come back and visit, will we not?"_

_"That never occurred to me, actually."_

_"Dad!"_

_Julien was still trying to convince his father not to move, but if he couldn't have that, he was willing to settle for visits every now and then. His father rolled his eyes and continued eating his banana._

_"Well, we have to mark the house somehow." Julien said, tossing his banana peel at Mort._

_"Mark the house?" Maurice asked him._

_"Yes! Of course! We need to make sure anyone who tries to move in knows that they can not because it is still being ours!"_

_"Julien, it's not like you can sign the house or anything like that." Josh told him._

_"Actually," Julien's father said. "That's not a bad idea."_

_Josh raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"_

_1 hour later_

_There was now a hole in the ground off to the side of the front door. Julien's father was pouring in cement. "Alright, kids," he said, tossing the bag aside. "This is what we're gonna do. You're gonna make a hand print in the concrete, then sign your names with this here stick. That way, the house will always be ours."_

_Josh thought this was stupid, but Julien was all for it. While he was reluctant to put his hand in the sticky wet cement, the fact that the house was theirs' forever on was worth it. He laid his hand in the cement. He took the pointy stick from his father and carefully wrote Julien D. Ringers XIII under his print. He handed the stick to Maurice and quickly went to rinse his hand. Very thoroughly. And screaming "Ewie ewie ewie ewie!" all the way to the water._

_When he came back, Josh's hand print was on the right of his own and Maurice's on the left. Next to Josh's was Mort's, and Kylie's was next to Maurice's, their ages printed along with their names. Julien quickly took the stick and added "age 8" to his. The four adults had done the same thing in another hole on the opposite side of the front door. This reassured Julien that no one could take his house, but he still had butterflies flying all around his stomach._

"I think it's bedtime." Mort's mother said. She picked up her youngest son and carried him into the house, Maurice's mother following with Kylie.

Julien looked back up to the sky. He had decided long ago, when he was first told they were moving, that Madagascar was too good a place to leave. But now he knew he had to do something about it. No one was making him leave his beloved home.

No one.

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><p><strong>So hopfully I'm not failing here. Please let me know if I am. All reviews are appreciated! Maybe since this is my next big story besides my first one, I should give out cookies again. Even though they're virtual and worthless. Anyway, you know what to do! Click those words below! :)<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Only one review for chapter two? That's not very reassuring. Oh well, thanks to EppopinkfangirlXDXDXD for reviewing! I can always count on you. :) To chapter three!**

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Three: December 31**

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><p>Skipper was in hiding. In hiding behind the counter in his kitchen, that is.<p>

Most people thought he was upset when his parents were out because he missed them or something. But that wasn't the case. Not at all. Skipper didn't like it when they left because that meant he was left with his older sister Riley. Normally, he could tolerate her. But when she had three of her friends over and they were blasting their loud music at full volume, that's when it became unbearable.

Skipper quickly got up from where he was sitting on the floor and went to the coat rack next to the door. He grabbed his earmuffs and put them on. Much better.

Skipper found a piece of paper and a pencil and sat back down on the floor. He began drawing up his plan for what he, Kowalski, Rico, and Private would do when the new neighbors arrived. If they were anywhere near as creepy as the last ones...

Skipper felt his earmuffs being pulled off his head. He looked up to see them dangling from the hand of his sister.

"You do know we're inside, right?" Riley asked him.

"I was _trying_ to drown out the noise you were all making, but I see now that it's unnecessary." Skipper picked his things up and made a strategic retreat to his room. If he had to spend his New Year's Eve alone in his room, then so be it.

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><p>"Julien, why are you in a tree?"<p>

Julien looked down to see Maurice looking at him from the ground. "Because we can not move if I am in a tree!"

Maurice rolled his eyes before walking away from the tree.

"Hey, where are you going?" Julien yelled. "Don't be leaving me here alone!"

"I'm coming back!" Maurice shouted back at him. Julien could no longer see him. He sat back against his tree, which he had cleverly named "The Me Tree", and gazed through the leaves into the sunny sky. No one was making him move. Not today, not never. Never! They couldn't leave without him, and if he just stayed in the tree the rest of his life, then they would never move. Right? Right.

Maurice came back ten minutes later with Julia and Jade.

Julia and Jade Parker were Julien and Maurice's best friends. They were twin sisters, only differing slightly in appearance. Julia had lighter blond hair and green eyes, and Jade had more dirty blond hair and blue eyes.

"All right, you ding dong, why are you in a tree?" Jade yelled. She didn't have a very strong liking for Julien.

"Because!" Julien called back, as if it should be obvious. "They can not be leaving without me, and if I do not come down from the tree, then we can not leaving at all!"

"That's actually a pretty good idea," Julia agreed. She didn't want the boys to leave anymore than they did.

"I don't think it's gonna work," Maurice said.

"No one cares what you think, Maurice." Julien told him. "They only care what I think, because I am the king!"

"If they cared so much what you thought, you wouldn't be moving," Jade muttered.

"I don't think he's coming down anytime soon." Julia said, so that Julien could not here from all the way up in the tree.

"I'm fine with that," Jade said. "If he's up there, than he can't be annoying."

"I heard that!" Julien yelled.

"Or maybe he can," Jade said.

"Julien, will you at least come down to a lower branch so we don't have to keep yelling?" Julia called up to him. Julien reluctantly jumped from branch to branch down the tree until he was about ten feet up from the ground.

"You can't stay up there forever," Maurice told him.

"Sure I can."

"What are you going to eat?" Julia asked him.

"I have plenty of mangoes up here." Julien had chosen a mango tree to sit in.

"What will you drink?" Jade asked.

"The mango juice, duh!" Julien told her. 'Sheesh, do girls know anything?' he thought.

"Well, what if your dad just comes and carries you down?" Maurice asked.

"He can not climb down a tree and carry me at the same time, now can he?" Julien said, smirking.

Suddenly, the four kids heard the familiar sounds of someone stepping through the jungle. The annoying and bossy Josh Lemkus, everybody.

"Hey, midgets, we're almost ready to head out." Josh looked up to see Julien looking down. "Okay, why is he in a tree?"

"He says that you guys can't leave without him, so that if he stays in the tree, then you can't move." Julia explained to him.

Josh looked back at the eight-year-old in the tree. "That's probably the only sensible plan you've ever come up with in your life." he told Julien.

"Thank you!"

"But you know someone could just come up and carry you down, right?"

"You can't climb down and carry me at the same time! Why is no one understanding this?"

Josh then climbed up to the low branch that Julien was sitting on.

"Hey, what are you doing? Be getting away!" Julien tried to run, but that's difficult when you're in a tree. Josh quickly picked Julien up and jumped down from the tree. He set the young boy on the ground before smirking.

Julien looked up to where he had just been sitting and then back at Josh. He glared. "I hate you."

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><p><strong>Okie dokie, you know what to do. And I'd greatly appreciate more than one review *hint hint!*. :)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay, more than one review! That's what I like to see! Thanks to Asmith137, Karenkook, EppopinkfangirlXDXDXD, and Kukipye for reviewing! Candy corn for you all! Here is chapter four!**

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Four: December 31 (continued)**

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><p>Rico couldn't quite understand why Skipper was freaking out over the new neighbors. Yes, the last ones were creepy, but big deal. He scared them off with one stick of dynamite. And it wasn't even real! The cowards.<p>

Either way, he actually liked getting new neighbors. It brought a little excitement to the building. Alice wasn't a big fan of excitement. The last thing to happen in the building that Rico could say was interesting was when Alice added a fake plant to the lobby. Actually, that wasn't even exciting. Private was the only one who noticed it. So yes, new neighbors were fine by him.

"Rico!"

Rico snapped out of his thoughts. He had forgotten that it was New Year's Eve and that he was at Skipper's house with Kowalski and Private, discussing their plan.

"Pay attention!"

"Yes, sir," he said half heartedly. Skipper rolled his eyes and continued rambling about the dangers of neighbors.

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><p>Julien stood on the beach with Maurice, Julia, and Jade and watched his father help pack their belongings onto a boat. The closest airport wasn't in Madagascar, but in Mozambique, so they were taking a boat to the mainland to get a plane from there. The boat wasn't small, but it was no cruise ship either. Just big enough to fit the four adults, five kids, one driver, and all their stuff. And they didn't have a whole lot of stuff.<p>

Julien didn't need to turn around to know that Mort and Kylie were sitting in the sand, not worrying at all, and Josh was kissing his girlfriend one last time. But he wasn't thinking about that. He was concentrating on not letting any tears fall from his eyes. Because today he said goodbye to everything he had ever known, and he was NOT happy. Not one bit.

They stood there, in a circle, unable to think of anything to say. What could you say? All four of them just stood there looking at each other, until Julia starting crying, which set off everyone else and forced them into a group hug that no one wanted to break.

And they didn't break it, until Mort's father called out "All right, kids, let's get this show on the road!"

Which of course sent all four kids bawling again, until they sucked it up and looked at each other one more time. Julien slowly reached his hand out to the middle of the circle, where the friendship bracelet reading "Best" was visible to his friends. And the other three did the same, Maurice's reading "Friends", Julia's reading "For", and Jade's reading "Life". They _knew_ it wasn't the end; that didn't change the fact that it felt like it.

They huddled into one last hug before Julien and Maurice reluctantly wandered to where their parents were waiting. The two boys allowed the required life jackets to be buckled and to be helped into the boat. Both were turned around in the seat, facing the beach, and neither pair of eyes left the two girls. The boat eventually started and gently surged into the ocean. And none of the four kids looked away until they could no longer see each other.

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><p><strong>So... be honest. How are you liking this so far? You know how to tell me! :)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Oh my gosh, I have not updated since October! I bet no one cares though, because this is kind of a suckish story. Anywho, thanks to those who are reading for your patience! And thanks to my chapter four reviewers, EppopinkfangirlXDXDXD (...yes, I DO do my research! Heh heh...) and Karenkook (I wonder how he will too!)! Also, quick refresher: Josh is Mort's 16-year-old brother, Kylie is Maurice's 4-year-old sister, and Riley is Skipper's 12-year-old sister. So without further ado, chapter 5!**

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Five: January 1**

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><p>The boat ride had been mostly silent and uneventful, save for the occasional someone dropping something into the water, and the extended family was finally at the airport in Mozambique. And Julien, though he was still upset, was very fascinated by it all. This was the biggest place he had ever been in in his life, and he had a lot of questions. Annoying ones at that.<p>

"Dad, what is that thing being?" he asked his father, pointing to an escalator.

"You don't know what that is?" Josh (Mort's cranky older brother, in case you've forgotten) asked him.

"No."

"Wow, you're an idiot."

"Josh, be nice, or you're answering all his questions." Josh's father said, while trying to hold onto his bag and keep Mort from running off.

"He's going to have to," Julien's dad said. "We have to get our tickets. Josh, can you just please watch them while we go get them?"

Josh was reluctant. "Do I have a choice?"

"No."

He sighed. "Fine."

The four adults left the five kids by the chairs and got in the short line for their tickets.

"Are you going to be answering my question or not? The king should not be kept waiting!"

"How many times do I have to tell you!" Josh exploded. "You are not a king! You are a spoiled, selfish little brat who throws a fit when things don't go your way!"

Naturally, Julien was greatly offended by this, and kicked Josh in the leg.

"Ow! You little!" Josh began to chase Julien around the area, drawing the attention of others. Maurice, Mort, and Kylie watched as the two ran circles around them. And watching Julien run was fascinating to Mort, for whatever reason. So no surprise that Julien was stopped in his tracks when the little four-year-old clung to his leg.

The adults came back with the tickets, and one metal detector and passport check later, all nine people finally boarded the plane.

The plane had rows of three seats on one side and rows of two on the other, separated by an aisle. The group was seated in the middle of the plane in the following formation. Julien had a window seat, of course, with Maurice next to him in the middle and Josh sitting on the aisle seat. Mort was in between Kylie, who had the window, and his mother. They were behind the three boys. Across the aisle from the boys, Julien's father had the aisle seat and Maurice's mother was next to him. Mort's father was behind her, with an empty seat next to him.

"Mr. Lemkus, why are you having an empty seat next to you?" Julien asked, looking over the back of his seat.

"If no one happens to take it, then it will be the time out seat." Mort's father answered.

"The time out seat?" Josh asked.

"If one of you misbehaves, you sit back here with me."

Josh looked at Julien then back to his father. "Can I sit there now?"

"No."

Josh sighed.

"Okay, I'm bored!" Julien declared.

"We haven't even left yet," Maurice told him.

"Don't even think about getting bored yet," Josh told him. "It's a 17 hour flight."

Julien stared at him blankly. "How long is that?"

"A long time."

"WHAT?" Julien's jaw dropped. "Why was I not inform-ed?"

"Because we knew you'd scream!" Josh said.

"Father!"

"This is going to be a long flight," Julien's father said.

"Well, duh!" Julien exclaimed. "It's 17 hours!"

The pilot's voice came over the intercom as the flight attendants demonstrated the proper way to use the flotation devices and all the other emergency equipment. Julien refused to put his seat belt on. He tried to open the airplane window to no avail. And someone took the empty seat next to Mr. Lemkus, trapping Josh with the annoying "king". But at last, after much waiting, the plane began wheeling down the runway, and was soon in the air.

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><p>The excitement of New Year's was over. Kowalski, Rico, and Private had not been allowed to spend the night, but Riley's friends had. Skipper was too distracted to declare complete unfairness. He wasn't going to let himself be fooled by new neighbors again. He just knew that the new neighbors were spies; why else would a whole bunch of them be moving together? It didn't make sense to young Skipper, and he was determined to expose these spies as what they really were.<p>

"Skipper!" Skipper looked up from his desk in his bedroom. His sister was standing in the doorway. "Go to bed, it's almost one in the morning."

"You're not the boss of me!" Skipper declared, even though she technically was at the moment.

"Yes I am, now go to bed." Riley said. She closed his door and left.

Skipper pinned the piece of paper he had been writing on to his bulletin board. He dug out his supplies: a pair of toy binoculars, walkie talkies with a 30 feet talking range, and the pocket knife he'd gotten from his dad, and laid them out on his desk. He had things all set; and there was only one and a half more days until the new neighbors arrived. Skipper put on his camouflage pajamas, turned off his light, and crawled onto his bed, not bothering with the blanket. He finally went to sleep.

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><p><strong>What was Skipper's dad thinking, giving a second grader a pocket knife? And yay, Skippy in camo pajamas! Well, I hope this was worth the wait (if anyone was waiting). Reviews are appreciated! :)<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**OMG, fast update! Yayness! This is also a long chapter. Special thanks to reviewers izmaeembac (wow, thank you! And no, it is not weird, though I don't think it will happen) and EppopinkfangirlXDXDXD (well then, keep reading!)! And now, on we go!**

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><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Six: January 1 (continued)**

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><p>Skipper sat in the landing of the main staircase, as close to the lobby as he could get without actually being in it. He glared at the freshly polished mailboxes, which were the only other things he could see besides the door. Stakeouts were incredibly boring. Kowalski and Rico came pounding down the stairs, laughing and chasing each other, but stopped when they found their friend sitting in their path.<p>

"Skipper? What are you doing?" Kowalski asked him.

"Watching for the spies," Skipper said, not looking up.

Kowalski and Rico knew who Skipper was talking about, but they were both confused. "I thought they weren't coming until tomorrow?" Kowalski said.

"Tomorrow could mean two in the morning for all we know." Skipper still hadn't looked up.

Kowalski and Rico exchanged a glance. "2:00 AM isn't for another thirteen hours," Kowalski informed him.

"We have to be ready!" Skipper finally turned around to look at his friends, and he did not look happy.

"Cuckoo," Rico whispered, after Skipper had turned back around.

"Am I right in assuming that you're going to make us sit with you down here tomorrow?" Kowalski asked, though he knew the answer.

"Well, duh," Skipper snapped. "But I'm staying here until they come. Or until dinner. Whichever comes first."

"Suit yourself," Kowalski said with a shrug. "Rico and I are going to the park to observe winter clouds."

Rico didn't agree. "What?"

Kowalski stuttered a bit. "Oh, I guess that might've came out in a way that sounded like we were going to try to walk across the creeks that froze over, but I meant we were going to observe winter clouds." He gave a sheepish grin.

Rico glared.

"Alright, how about I watch clouds while you try to drown yourself?"

This satisfied the more daring of the two, and with that they ran down the remaining steps and out the front door of the building, leaving Skipper alone once again on the staircase.

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><p>"Mom!"<p>

"Dad!"

All four adults, even the ones who had not been addressed, did a mental face palm. If you had been in an airplane with five rowdy kids for twelve hours, what would you do?

You would think that the younger four-year-olds, Mort and Kylie, would be the main problem. But of course, they were second only to King Julien, who had been whining periodically throughout the entire plane ride. He and Maurice had played every possible game they could in their confined space, which wasn't many. When they had been advised to simply have a friendly discussion, the conversation topics hadn't strayed far from Julien, his interests, his likes, his dislikes, and anything and everything else related to the king. And because Julien tended not to be the quietest of kids, most people on the plane now knew a lot about this young boy.

Maurice had eventually reached the end of his rope and told Julien to shut his mouth for two seconds. And of course, no one speaks to the king in that sort of tone, so naturally Maurice was insulted right back, which led to an argument. Which had led to a comment so insulting that they had called for their parents.

Julien's father sighed. "Both of you need to calm down. Now Julien, he has a point about you needing to be more quiet-"

"My own father!" Julien wailed. "Everyone is being a critic!"

"Maybe people wouldn't be so critical if you would talk about something other than yourself," Josh said. He was quite tired of listening to the annoying boy's voice.

Another insult, another blow-out argument. Julien and Josh fought loudly, getting in as close to each other's faces as they could get without actually leaving their seats, with poor Maurice stuck, literally, right in the middle.

One of the flight attendants made her way down the aisle to Julien's father. "Excuse me, sir? Could you please do something about your son? He is disrupting the other passengers."

Julien's father sighed again. "Yes, I will quiet him down."

"Thank you." The flight attendant walked away.

Mr. Ringers looked at his son. This was going to be difficult. "Julien!"

Julien did not listen, of course, as he was too busy telling Josh was a booty-head he was.

He tried again, a bit louder. "Julien!"

Maurice had had enough. He uncovered his ears and yelled, "Will both of you just shut up already?" Julien and Josh stopped arguing to look at him. "Everyone on this whole plane can hear you and it's driving everyone nuts!"

Almost everyone on the plane heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Maurice," Julien's father said. "Now! Next argument, someone is switching places! I mean it!"

"Can it be me?" Josh volunteered. "Please let it be me!"

Julien rolled his eyes at the teenager. Josh always seemed to be getting him in trouble.

* * *

><p>Kowalski and Private sat under a bare tree in Central Park, watching the sky while Rico spun himself around in circles on the ice that apparently wasn't going to break anytime soon.<p>

"Did you see Skipper on your way down here?" Kowalski asked Private, who had joined them about fifteen minutes after they had arrived.

"Yes," Private replied. "I feel like I should've stayed and sat with him, so he wouldn't be alone."

"You know how Skipper is," Kowalski told him. "When the new neighbors come tomorrow, we'll show him they're perfectly normal people and he'll calm down."

"I guess you're right," Private said, still worrying. "Kowalski? You don't think they'll be spies, do you?"

"Of course not," Kowalski said. "The situation with those other neighbors was just a fluke. I'll bet you that there is nothing out of the ordinary about these ones."

Private smiled. Kowalski was right. The neighbors would come, Skipper would see the truth, and everything would be fine.

* * *

><p>Julien sat back in his chair, bored out of his mind. Maurice and Josh had both gone to sleep, and he was not about to turn around and talk to Mort or Kylie, who were also both asleep anyway.<p>

He might've been asleep too, but there was too much on his mind. What was going to happen when he got to New York? What would his new home be like? He knew he would have to start going to school, which also made him nervous. His father had told him that he would be in third grade, but there was a problem. Maurice was only going to be in second grade, so he would be by himself. Julien's father said that he would've been in second grade, had he been born a couple of days later. Julien didn't want to start school by himself, but that's what he had to do.

Julien wanted to go to sleep, but couldn't. He was sitting next to his father now, because he had accidentally gotten into a small argument with Josh. He wasn't allowed to go back to his seat for a couple of hours.

"Dad?" Julien whispered to his father, who had his eyes closed but wasn't quite sleeping.

"Yes, Julien?"

Julien wasn't really sure what he wanted; he just wanted to talk to someone. "Will you read me a story?"

Julien's father smiled at his son; he was much more pleasant when he was sleepy. He reached down into his bag and pulled out one of Julien's picture books that he was much too old for but liked to hear anyway.

Julien rested his head on his father's arm, and did not even hear the first line of the story because he had discovered how sleepy he really was.

* * *

><p><strong>About the school thing up there: I don't know about everywhere else, but where I live, you have to be a certain age by a certain day to qualify for a grade. In my world, Julien's birthday is August 13, which would've made him age eight upon entering third grade (had he been there at the beginning of the year). Also in my world, Maurice's birthday is December 23, making him age seven upon entering second grade. That's my logic, but don't worry. Everyone stays together. You just have to wait to find out how. ^_^<strong>

**I over-explained that up there. Oh well. So that is chapter 6! Hope you liked it. If you did, tell me please! Also, as soon as I post this chapter, I will post a preview for chapter 7 on deviantART. I am InternetGirl123 on there as well. So yeah. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well... if anyone is looking for an explanation, here it is. It is hard to keep up an obsession when there are no new episodes, and some other reasons that I'd rather not say. I don't even read PoM fanfiction anymore, but I was listening to some PoM songs earlier and I remembered how much I love this show. I've also always felt guilty for not having finished this story. **Apparently, the last time I worked on this chapter was September 27, 2012. ****

**I doubt that any of my old readers are still on here, so I shall reintroduce myself. I am InternetGirl123, or Anna, whichever you prefer. I previously wrote humanized PoM stories. This is my newest one, I guess. I like to think that during my almost 2 year hiatus, I have matured as a writer. **

**Quick refresher: Most everyone is 8 years old. Mort is 4. Josh is Mort's brother (16) and Kylie is Maurice's sister (4). **

**And of course, thank you to my chapter six reviewers: EstelliPinKemo (it's weird typing your new username after typing your very long old one for so long :P), TheSkySpiritsTalentShow, and Karenkook. Cookies for all! Also, thank you again to everyone else who has reviewed my story. **

**So, without further ado, after 718 days, I give you chapter seven. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>When They Came<strong>

**Chapter Seven: January 2**

* * *

><p>When the airplane finally began its descent into New York City, every passenger heaved a sigh of relief. Mostly because they could be free of the annoying little kid who claimed to be the king. Free of his talking. And his singing.<p>

Julien, who had finally been released back to his old seat, had his eyes fixated on the window. When he looked out the window taking off, he had seen the African plains surrounding the runway. Now, as they were landing, he couldn't see anything because there were so many more planes here.

When the plane had landed, the passengers had departed the plane, and baggage had been collected, the clan of 'lemurs' headed for the exit. All five kids, even the boring Josh, let out a gasp of amazement when they stepped into the New York air.

A parking lot. Full of cars. A taxi station. And the crisp, chill weather of a typical Manhattan winter day. Oh Sky Spirits.

"Alright, how are we going to split up?" Julien's father asked. "Because we'll definitely need at least three taxi cabs to get us all home."

"What is a taxi cab?" Julien asked.

"It's a car. You saw the cars at the airport in Mozambique?"

Julien nodded.

"Taxi cabs are cars. You pay the drivers money to take you places instead of driving yourself."

Satisfied with his father's answer, Julien began to search for a cab that was worthy of driving his royal self around.

The adults worked out who would ride with who, and they gave all the cabbies their new address: The Central Park Apartments building.

* * *

><p>Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private had been spying through the rails of the stairs since 0900 hours. The latter three were bored and slightly annoyed with their paranoid friend, who was looking through his toy binoculars.<p>

"Skipper, you've been hyped up about stuff before, but this is ridiculous," Kowalski said.

"Hold it!" Skipper said, shoving his hand in the air. "A cab just pulled up!"

The other three boys peeked through the railing and the glass door; a cab had pulled up. But they soon learned it was not alone.

"Uh, Skipper?" Private said, though not entirely sure he wanted to keep going. "There are two more behind it."

Skipper dropped his binoculars; fortunately, they were on a strap around his neck. "It's worse than I thought! An invasion!"

Private rolled his eyes. "Don't you think that there's a slight possibility they're friendly?" he asked.

Skipper glared at his friend. "Do I look stupid to you? They're spies, collecting information. Or worse: space squids. Coming to suck out our brains!" Skipper conveniently pulled out a martian comic book to prove his point.

The 'penguins' quieted down when the front door opened, and a man walked up to the front desk, followed by three more adults, an annoyed looking teenager, two giggling little kids, and two boys who looked to be about the same as age as our heroes.

"Skipper, my precise head count has concluded that there are nine people moving into the building, an approximate three people per apartment," Kowalski said. Skipper's eyes didn't leave the intruders.

"They have kids, Skipper," Private said happily. "They look our age. Maybe we should go talk to them."

"Are you crazy, Private?" Skipper scolded. "They're spies, I tell you! We can't just go walking down- what are you doing?!" It was too late; Private was already walking down the stairs. Kowalski and Rico soon followed him. Skipper heaved a heavy sigh and caught up with them.

Upon entering the building, Julien had noticed the four mysterious boys looking down from the staircase. And when the smallest one started coming down, his royal brain had an idea. He leaned down to Maurice. "Maurice! I am having an idea!" he whispered. "I'm going to play a prank on these peoples. Do not be ruining it!"

"What are you-" Maurice was cut off by Julien's hand as the four boys approached them.

"Hello," Private greeted. He knew they weren't spies, and he didn't want Skipper to give them the wrong impression.

Julien smiled sneakily before responding. "Manahoana. Julien no anarako. Iza no anaranao?"

Private looked at him, confused. Julien looked back, just as confused. "Miteny gasy ve ianao?"

Skipper looked at the boy suspiciously. Kowalski leaned over to him. "I don't think he speaks English."

"Well, duh." Skipper hissed back. "So what is he speaking?"

"I'm not sure, but I believe it is some sort of African language."

Julien put a nervous look on his face, though he was restraining himself from laughing. "Miala tsiny aho. Tsy mahay miteny anglisy aho."

At around this moment, Josh walked up behind Julien, and when he was done speaking, he asked him, "What are you doing?"

Julien looked behind him. "Josh, shushies!" he whispered. "You will be ruining my joke!" Unfortunately, it was too late, because Skipper heard him, and was now glaring at him. Julien sheepishly looked at the four boys and laughed a little. "Heh heh, uh, mangatsiaka be ny andro, eny?." Skipper continued to glare.

"Alright, you have caught me with the red hands. I was only playing a little joke. Is that so wrong? No, it is not."

Private decided to try again. "Uh...well, hello. My name is Private, and this is Rico, Kowalski, and Skipper," he said, pointing out each of his friends.

"My name is King Julien Daniel Ringers... the thirteenth." He pointed to Maurice. "And that is Maurice, but nobody cares about him." Maurice glared at him.

"King Julien?" Skipper questioned. _This kid, a king?_ Skipper thought. _Yeah, right._

"Yes, king." Julien said. "I am the royal king of Madagascar!"

"Ah, Madagascar, an island of the southeastern coast of Africa. The fourth largest island in the world," Kowalski said matter-of-factly. Everyone else gave him looks; the penguins, an annoyed glare, the lemurs, a confused look. "What?"

"Anywho..." Julien said. "Now that your new king has arrived, you may feel free to bask in my glory!"

Julien's father, who was at the desk signing paperwork, looked back at his son. "Julien, we've been here less than five minutes. Don't irritate the people."

Skipper smirked. This so-called "king" was already getting on his nerves. "You heard the man."

Julien scoffed. "Pffffffft. He is not being the boss of me!"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Father!" Julien rolled his eyes at his "boss". "Hmmf. Parents. What are you gonna do, right?" Three of the 'penguins' nodded in agreement, yet Skipper continued to glare at his new neighbor.

However, Skipper's attention was soon directed to whoever had just tapped on his arm. He looked down to find a curly-haired, smiling four-year-old boy with large eyes staring up at him.

"Hello!" the boy greeted, in a high voice.

"...Hello." Skipper said, confusingly looking at the little child.

The boy continued smiling. "My name is Mort!"

"Good for you." Skipper was more concerned with the "king" than he was with this squeaky voiced boy, so he gently pushed him on the head to get him away. Mort didn't seem to care and happily started running around the lobby. Kylie noticed and began to join him.

Julien's father had finished his paperwork. Noticing that the four-year olds were causing mayhem and that his own son likely was as well, he decided it would be best to get all of the kids out of the lobby.

"Alright, children," he said. "Ready to go see our apartments? All the way up on the seventh floor, should be an excellent view."

"Yes!" Julien said, with a fist pump. "Hey wait, no! I'm not going up all those stairs! Maurice, you get to carry me."

"Oh, do I, really?!" Maurice said sarcastically, which, of course, Julien did not pick up on.

"No one's carrying you, Julien," Mr. Ringers said. "Remember the escalators at the airports?" The kids all nodded. "We're going to ride on the elevator, which is a little like an escalator but not quite."

"Where is this elevator thing?" Julien demanded to know. Julien's dad walked over to the elevator and pushed the button. The doors opened, which fascinated most of the kids, except for Josh, who rolled his eyes at their amazement.

"Okay, everybody grab your suitcase and let's go," Mr. Ringers instructed. The five kids grabbed their bags. Well, Julien grabbed his and then threw it at Maurice when his father wasn't looking, but that was expected.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Skipper made a run for the stairs, his comrades faithfully following behind him. With the speed and energy only eight year olds have, they made it to the seventh floor just before the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I'm just going to end it there. Reviews are welcomed and appreciated, of course. Hope you enjoyed! High school is rough, so no promises on updates. I just needed to at least finish this chapter. Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Also, Julien was speaking Malagasy, one of the official languages of Madagascar. Here are the translations (from wild madagascar . org)**

**Manahoana = **Hello; How are you?**  
>Julien no anarako = <strong>My name is Julien <strong>  
>Iza no anaranao = <strong>What is your name?<strong>  
>Miteny gasy ve ianao = <strong>Do you speak Malagasy?<strong>  
>Miala tsiny aho = <strong>I am sorry<strong>  
>Tsy mahay miteny anglisy aho = I do not speak English<br>Mangatsiaka be ny andro, eny? = **It is very cold, yes?****


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